Dark Souls - I'm Prepared To Die (Again)

[Xprimentyl]

Well, my testicles finally descended and I?ve decided to try Dark Souls again after 3 years away. Back then, it took me hours of trial and error in the Undead Burg before I finally made it to the Taurus Demon where I was curb stomped so hard, the impact affected the Earth?s axis causing the unusually hot Summer of 2013 here in North Texas, so I gave up.

Anyway, I started over a couple days ago and finally made it past the TD yesterday and am feeling fresh off success, but I AM pretty apprehensive about how much there is to learn, how much I can miss and how much I can potentially waste trying to ?figure things out.? I?d hate to get 40 hours in just to find I screwed myself 38 hours prior when I didn?t get the ?Sword of Game Ending? or some other epic item. The Let?s Players I?ve watched are generally either world record-setting Souls gurus beating the game in an hour using nothing but a burlap sack on their head or, like me, they?re total noobs who?re getting shredded in the comments for all the shit they?re missing and the mistakes they?re making. Also doesn?t help that even when I do watch a Let?s Play, I?m usually distracted, so I miss a lot of the hidden stuff and inventory management.

So, my apologies for bringing up a ?noob? thread for a 5 year old game, but I?m not a Let?s Player, so I?ve not the luxury of a comments section to teach (read: ?verbally abuse?) me, and Souls Wikis read like IKEA assembly instructions (especially if you don?t know what you don?t know or don?t know what you?re looking for,) so if anyone could offer some pointers, even if it?s just items I should be sure to get or resources I shouldn?t waste, it?d be much appreciated. Like I said, I?m just now past the Taurus Demon and I did manage to get the Drake sword (the ONE item I knew to get,) now I?m trying how to figure out how to get past the dragon, so pretty much still at the beginning.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

The nice thing about Dark Souls is that virtually every weapon is viable. It's less about finding the "best" weapon and more about finding a weapon that you like and upgrading it.

That being said, you need a Titanite Slab in order to fully upgrade your weapon, and you need a different color depending on your infusion. Don't use them lightly, because they are very hard to come by and are very difficult to farm.

If you want a solid weapon for the whole game, you can find the Zweihander near Firelink Shrine, in the graveyard next to a large skeleton. Infusing it with Lightning gives you a powerful weapon with high base damage, which means your stats aren't as important, and few enemies are resistant to lightning.

But really, use whatever weapon you want. Just remember that upgrading your weapon gives the biggest damage boosts.

 

[Saelune]

Heres a tip, the Drake Sword is a lie. Or rather, it is good at the start, but scales for shit. I personally lobe the Claymore, which is on the very bridge the Drake guards. I literally used it all the way into NG++.

If you want a relatively spoiler-free walkthrough, I played along Extra Plays (The LP channel of Extra Credits) since Dan was playing blind, so I could see what was next while getting a fairly pure experience still.

I recommend 100% shields. Being able to block and take no damage is awesome. I also recommend being proficient in a bit of everything. I was mostly a strength/dex build, but I could cast heal and homeward, and fireball. Also once you get an attribute to 40, dont worry about it. Spread the love...except resistance, that is worthless in 1.

Somethings to note that might screw you later, after Quelaag is a hidden area blocked by a guy with a pod on his back. Talk to him, dont attack him. Made that mistake.

Dont tell the pyro merchant about the powerful spells if you get them, cause he leaves if you do.

Leave Lautrec be after you save him (Golden knight guy). Some might say to kill him when you have the opportunity, I say dont.

The priest guy in the start area has a quest thing attached to him that has a few ways to resolve. Might want to look into that.

Solaire also has a quest thing that you WILL fail if you dont know about it before hand. Up to you if you spoil it for yourself, but doing it "successfully" allows the final boss to be easier, if you care by then.

Sorry if I spoiled anything you didnt want to know, but these are things Id have wanted to know going in. Im sure there is plenty Im missing though.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Once you get past the dragon

Spoiler

(bait his fire breath to kill the undead soldiers on the bridge, then run to and down the steps on the right about half way across. Wear the highest fire defense items you have and don't block if you get caught in the blast as it will hit stun and kill at low levels),

there is a Black Knight that has a chance of dropping either a Black Knight Sword or Black Knight Great Sword. Hopefully you'll get the former because it only requires about half the strength stat, and is still a terrific early game weapon.

Other than that, yeah, use the Drake until you can upgrade a Claymore or later handle a Zweihander.

The great thing about Souls games is that when all seems lost, there is practically always at least one other option. For example: when you reach the first Capra Demon in the small room, just bring lots of arrows and run to the back up the stairs to the back ledge to pick off everyone.

Sorry, should've spoiler tagged that part! Typing on a phone sucks.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Hey man lemme break a few things down for you.

Well, my testicles finally descended

Welcome to manhood

I AM pretty apprehensive about how much there is to learn, how much I can miss and how much I can potentially waste trying to ?figure things out.?

The best way to play this game is to not stress about finding all the content and secrets. It's a game world that's cryptic by design and focusing in on every detail is only going to make you miss the bigger picture and the experience of being immersed in this oppressive decaying environment. That being said, it's hard to waste time in Souls. The penalty to dying (losing your souls) seems steep but it really isn't. Your soul level doesn't have nearly as much to do with your success as the upgrade level of your weapons. As a new player learning the game I'd focus on putting stat points in your health,(but only so much as you think you need) stamina, attack damage stat, and carry weight.

The thresholds for the rolls are-

Fast roll: less than 25% carry weight
Mid roll: Less than 50%
Fat roll: Greater than 50%

It is up to you to find your preferred balance between protection and mobility. That being said, dodging an attack will never deplete you of stamina, stagger you, or make you cross your finger that your hp and armor can take the hit.

I?d hate to get 40 hours in just to find I screwed myself 38 hours prior when I didn?t get the ?Sword of Game Ending? or some other epic item.

You don't have to worry about this at all. Almost every weapon in the game is viable and the classes mean next to nothing as really it's up to you to allocate your xp points and make your character what you want them to be. The only thing you can do that is objectively wrong is EVER level up resilience. It is a waste of a skill point as your resiliences rise every time you level anyway. As a rule of thumb, it's never a bad idea to increase your stamina or primary damage value (either strength or dex) up until about level 40 when diminishing returns kick in. What I mean by that is, every time you level say, your strength, you'll see how your damage increases by 2 or 3 points. Eventually that will become only 1 point. It's at that time that it becomes less and less important to level that stat, as you'll get a much better increase in power through upgrading your weapons.

So, my apologies for bringing up a ?noob? thread for a 5 year old game, but I?m not a Let?s Player, so I?ve not the luxury of a comments section to teach (read: ?verbally abuse?) me, and Souls Wikis read like IKEA assembly instructions (especially if you don?t know what you don?t know or don?t know what you?re looking for,) so if anyone could offer some pointers, even if it?s just items I should be sure to get or resources I shouldn?t waste, it?d be much appreciated. Like I said, I?m just now past the Taurus Demon and I did manage to get the Drake sword (the ONE item I knew to get,) now I?m trying how to figure out how to get past the dragon, so pretty much still at the beginning.

Don't apologize at all. The Souls community can get a bad rap (and often for good reason) but their are plenty of people who just like sharing this game with other.

Here's my Souls forum moment for you- Put down the Drake Sword and GIT GUD. The Drake Sword is a crutch that will cripple your skill development and hamstring you from learning the upgrade system. The Drake Sword might seem like a good idea but it has only a flat base damage value with no damage scaling. Most weapons have a scaling rating on their stats screen and they go from S-->A-->B-->C-->D-->E in descending order. A weapon with A strength scaling is going to increase that weapon's damage based on your strength stat to a high degree. Axes, greatsword, clubs, and other heavy weapons typically have high strength scaling. Katanas, small swords, daggers, and other finesse weapons have high dexterity scaling. The Drake Sword has neither, which means it's as strong now as it will be later rather than improving along with your character. A regular ol' longsword will eventually do more damage than the drake sword because of the upgrade path and its stat scaling.


Ooookay I wrote way more than I intended. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions and have a great time. Remember it's not about counting how many times you die but embracing the style and atmosphere of the world.

 

[Xprimentyl]

You folks are speaking a little over my head, but I?ll try to follow; definitely appreciate your taking the time and the tips so far! And FYI, I?m not worried about spoilers at all; I?ve watched the game, beginning to end, several times, I just missed a lot of important nuances occurring in the inventory and stats screens (ever tried following what a speed runner is doing in the inventory screen??)

The nice thing about Dark Souls is that virtually every weapon is viable. It's less about finding the "best" weapon and more about finding a weapon that you like and upgrading it.

That being said, you need a Titanite Slab in order to fully upgrade your weapon, and you need a different color depending on your infusion. Don't use them lightly, because they are very hard to come by and are very difficult to farm.

If you want a solid weapon for the whole game, you can find the Zweihander near Firelink Shrine, in the graveyard next to a large skeleton. Infusing it with Lightning gives you a powerful weapon with high base damage, which means your stats aren't as important, and few enemies are resistant to lightning.

But really, use whatever weapon you want. Just remember that upgrading your weapon gives the biggest damage boosts.

This pretty much sums up my fears, with the scarcity of valuable resources, I don?t want to waste hours of effort and resources into a weapon that?s working now if something leagues better and more worth the investment is to be had later. And Dark Souls and its permanence makes experimentation risky. As far as I know, you can't undo upgrades and there's very little telling you what upgrades actually DO... Ugh, so much to learn!!

Heres a tip, the Drake Sword is a lie. Or rather, it is good at the start, but scales for shit. I personally lobe the Claymore, which is on the very bridge the Drake guards. I literally used it all the way into NG++.

If you want a relatively spoiler-free walkthrough, I played along Extra Plays (The LP channel of Extra Credits) since Dan was playing blind, so I could see what was next while getting a fairly pure experience still.

I recommend 100% shields. Being able to block and take no damage is awesome. I also recommend being proficient in a bit of everything. I was mostly a strength/dex build, but I could cast heal and homeward, and fireball. Also once you get an attribute to 40, dont worry about it. Spread the love...except resistance, that is worthless in 1.

Somethings to note that might screw you later, after Quelaag is a hidden area blocked by a guy with a pod on his back. Talk to him, dont attack him. Made that mistake.

Dont tell the pyro merchant about the powerful spells if you get them, cause he leaves if you do.

Leave Lautrec be after you save him (Golden knight guy). Some might say to kill him when you have the opportunity, I say dont.

The priest guy in the start area has a quest thing attached to him that has a few ways to resolve. Might want to look into that.

Solaire also has a quest thing that you WILL fail if you dont know about it before hand. Up to you if you spoil it for yourself, but doing it "successfully" allows the final boss to be easier, if you care by then.

Sorry if I spoiled anything you didnt want to know, but these are things Id have wanted to know going in. Im sure there is plenty Im missing though.

Great tips, my friend; I'll make note of all of this and do my research. I'd heard the Drake sword was a short-term cop out, but once you've been felled 437 times by the same pike-wielding hollows who refuse to acknowledge your Long Sword is even sharp, it's empowering to dish out the OP pain for a while; it's offers a little security for the challenges ahead. Oh, and I'm not killing ANY NPCs this playthrough; I tend to leave well-enough alone; don't like the idea of long-lasting repercussions due to carelessness. I'll need to learn more of the story to appreciate and understand which "murders" to commit.

Once you get past the dragon (bait his fire breath to kill the undead soldiers on the bridge, then run to and down the steps on the right about half way across. Wear the highest fire defense items you have and don't block [/ ]if you get caught in the blast as it will hit stun and kill at low levels), there is a Black Knight that has a chance of dropping either a Black Knight Sword or Black Knight Great Sword. Hopefully you'll get the former because it only requires about half the strength stat, and is still a terrific early game weapon.

Other than that, yeah, use the Drake unitl you can upgrade a Claymore or later handle a Zweihander.

The great thing about Souls games is that when all seems lost, there is practically always at least one other option. For example: when you reach the first Capra Demon in the small room, just bring lots of arrows and run to the back up the stairs to the back ledge to pick off everyone.

For as unforgiving as this game may seem on its face, the truth is pretty much every death is consequence-free and an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the immediate area, farm souls and get stronger. I'm learning this as every run to get past the hellkite dragon is actually one to get back to my lost souls, and in killing every enemy on the way every time, I've amassed about 15k souls, so when I do get past the dragon, I'll have netted myself a nice little leveling session!

 

[Xprimentyl]

Hey man lemme break a few things down for you.

Well, my testicles finally descended

Welcome to manhood

I AM pretty apprehensive about how much there is to learn, how much I can miss and how much I can potentially waste trying to ?figure things out.?

The best way to play this game is to not stress about finding all the content and secrets. It's a game world that's cryptic by design and focusing in on every detail is only going to make you miss the bigger picture and the experience of being immersed in this oppressive decaying environment. That being said, it's hard to waste time in Souls. The penalty to dying (losing your souls) seems steep but it really isn't. Your soul level doesn't have nearly as much to do with your success as the upgrade level of your weapons. As a new player learning the game I'd focus on putting stat points in your health, stamina (but only so much as you think you need), attack damage stat, and carry weight.

The thresholds for the rolls are-

Fast roll: less than 25% carry weight
Mid roll: Less than 50%
Fat roll: Greater than 50%

It is up to you to find your preferred balance between protection and mobility. That being said, dodging an attack will never deplete you of stamina, stagger you, or make you cross your finger that your hp and armor can take the hit.

I?d hate to get 40 hours in just to find I screwed myself 38 hours prior when I didn?t get the ?Sword of Game Ending? or some other epic item.

You don't have to worry about this at all. Almost every weapon in the game is viable and the classes mean next to nothing as really it's up to you to allocate your xp points and make your character what you want them to be. The only thing you can do that is objectively wrong is EVER level up resilience. It is a waste of a skill point as your resiliences rise every time you level anyway. As a rule of thumb, it's never a bad idea to increase your stamina or primary damage value (either strength or dex) up until about level 40 when diminishing returns kick in. What I mean by that is, every time you level say, your strength, you'll see how your damage increases by 2 or 3 points. Eventually that will become only 1 point. It's at that time that it becomes less and less important to level that stat, as you'll get a much better increase in power through upgrading your weapons.

So, my apologies for bringing up a ?noob? thread for a 5 year old game, but I?m not a Let?s Player, so I?ve not the luxury of a comments section to teach (read: ?verbally abuse?) me, and Souls Wikis read like IKEA assembly instructions (especially if you don?t know what you don?t know or don?t know what you?re looking for,) so if anyone could offer some pointers, even if it?s just items I should be sure to get or resources I shouldn?t waste, it?d be much appreciated. Like I said, I?m just now past the Taurus Demon and I did manage to get the Drake sword (the ONE item I knew to get,) now I?m trying how to figure out how to get past the dragon, so pretty much still at the beginning.

Don't apologize at all. The Souls community can get a bad rap (and often for good reason) but their are plenty of people who just like sharing this game with other.

Here's my Souls forum moment for you- Put down the Drake Sword and GIT GUD. The Drake Sword is a crutch that will cripple your skill development and hamstring you from learning the upgrade system. The Drake Sword might seem like a good idea but it has only a flat base damage value with no damage scaling. Most weapons have a scaling rating on their stats screen and they go from S-->A-->B-->C-->D-->E in descending order. A weapon with A strength scaling is going to increase that weapon's damage based on your strength stat to a high degree. Axes, greatsword, clubs, and other heavy weapons typically have high strength scaling. Katanas, small swords, daggers, and other finesse weapons have high dexterity scaling. The Drake Sword has neither, which means it's as strong now as it will be later rather than improving along with your character. A regular ol' longsword will eventually do more damage than the drake sword because of the upgrade path and its stat scaling.


Ooookay I wrote way more than I intended. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions and have a great time. Remember it's not about counting how many times you die but embracing the style and atmosphere of the world.

MUCH appreciated! I definitely need the encouragement and you make a lot of valid points, particularly about not getting caught up finding all the secrets and hidden stuff, admittedly that's a result of watching experienced players play and thinking that, as in most games "that's the way it MUST be;" I'll have to break myself of that habit. I'll TRY to table the Drake sword, but it's going to be hard to do! I have dispatched many a hollow with GREAT justice and it feels good, but you're right, I'm missing the experience of learning the "how" of weapons which as most of you all have said is a large part of the Souls experience.

 

[Saelune]

SNIP

I love Dark Souls 1 because there is virtually no resource limit like in the other games. Humanity is infinitely farmable, and there is no Soul memory like in 2...

Alot of people like the Zweihander, but I think its overrated. HOW a weapon swings is important, and the Zwei's overhead is awful, while the claymore's strong attack is a thrust/lunge that is very useful, such as in tight areas. But its your preferences not mine.

You CAN undo upgrades, but you lose the materials. This only matters for slabs though, since slabs, while farmable, are super low rates on end-game enemies. But by the time you get to using a slab, you've likely decided your path.

I just go with straight up physical upgrades (Goes to +15, and scales with STR and DEX). Atleast for your main weapon. If you want a elemental weapon as a side, thats fine though, but you will find some as treasure, such as a lightning spear and divine longsword. Also, divine prevents skeletons from being resurrected by necromancers in teh crypt, something to note.

Dont worry about using the low upgrade materials freely though.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The only time you really need to be careful about finding things, what to upgrade, etc. is if you're going for Platinum/100%. The wiki definitely saves time and hassle in that case, but really what it boils down to is these games are meant to be discovered as you go. It gives you the tools, and it's up to the player to fill in the blanks however they see fit.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

snip

MUCH appreciated! I definitely need the encouragement and you make a lot of valid points, particularly about not getting caught up finding all the secrets and hidden stuff, admittedly that's a result of watching experienced players play and thinking that, as in most games "that's the way it MUST be;" I'll have to break myself of that habit. I'll TRY to table the Drake sword, but it's going to be hard to do! I have dispatched many a hollow with GREAT justice and it feels good, but you're right, I'm missing the experience of learning the "how" of weapons which as most of you all have said is a large part of the Souls experience.

Glad to help buddy. Seriously you'll want to play through multiple timesto try out new builds, quests, or even do the bosses in a different order. Doing everything in one playthrough is no way to go through your first time.

Also, above you mention being afraid of wasting upgrade materials- don't be. Titanite is the resource and it goes like this:

Shard
Large Shard
Chunk
Slab

The first two become purchasable for not too many souls and you'll find/farm enough chunks you won't have to worry. You only need a slab to progress to +15 and if you have a weapon at +14 already you are clearly enjoying using it and finding success with it. You only need to worry about green, blue, or red shards if you are enchanting your weapons with magic, fire, or other attributes. Regular leveling up will serve you just fine and you don't have to overload yourself with all of the available options.

Geez now I really want to start a new playthrough

 

[Asita]

1) If you plan on pumping strength, consider investing in a mace and keep it vanilla. By which I mean ignore the raw, divine, crystal, lightning and occult modifiers, take it to a simple "Mace +15". It does strike damage, which is good against most enemies, has a good base damage, and by level 11 it has A-rank stat bonuses from Strength. Do not be enticed by the Crystal Upgrade path. It looks shiny, but you can't repair it.

2) When you get to the Undead Parish and finally reach the side of the church, you'll see a bridge going into the woods. Follow it. Go down the stairs. You'll find both a bonfire and Andre the Blacksmith. For obvious reasons, he is going to be your new best friend. Do not proceed any lower for the time being. There's a powerful monster in the next room which you want to be at least moderately well leveled and equipped for, and you want to be sure you can kill the monsters in the next area quickly. That being said, once you are capable of doing so it's a nice place to farm before going to Blighttown both for the abundance of poison/toxic curing drops and soul drops (for that point).

3) When you come down from the bell tower in the Undead Parish, you'll find an NPC there, Oswald. He has a few neat items like a ring with strong poison resistance (Good to keep in mind in Blighttown), but more importantly he offers absolution if you sin (like by betraying a covenant or attacking an NPC) for a not insubstantial soul fee, and gives you a way to leave covenants at no cost without betraying them.

4) If you've already acquired the drake sword, I assume that you already know about the undead burg shortcut and the soul farming. There are two ways to reach the undead parish at this point. A) in the room under the bridge, there is a door leading to the underside of the bridge. B) Wait on the other side of the bridge for the dragon to jump down onto the bridge. When this happens book it to the other side. Don't hit the bonfire just yet, get out of the line of fire. The dragon will quickly lose interest and fly off. THEN you can light the bonfire. The switch on one side of the bonfire opens up a shortcut to the undead parish.

On a side note, the doorway opposite of it leads to a broken statue. At this statue, you can enter the Warriors of Sunlight Covenant, provided that you have 25 faith (minus 5 faith for every boss you have helped another player kill in co-op). Joining this covenant immediately grants you the Lightning Spear Miracle (requires 20 faith and a talisman to use), which can be used even if you are no longer in the covenant. This is a very useful miracle and if you plan on ending with 20+ faith it's worth a brief stint as a Warrior of Sunlight.

5) Master your basics.

You've got your normal attack and you have your strong attack. Assuming a controller for simplicity's sake, if you flick the analog stick forward at the same time you do a regular attack, you'll do a kick instead. This does little to no damage, but on human sized enemies it will knock them back, momentarily break their guard and leave them open to attack. Doing the same thing with a strong attack will allow you to perform a leaping attack, which quickly closes the distance and deals noticeably more damage.

If you're using an offhanded (the character is apparently right handed, so left hand) weapon or shield, then the equivalent of the strong attack for it has you flick your shield out. This is a bit of a gamble, but it's a high reward one if you can master the timing against humanoid enemies. Worst case scenario is that you misjudge the timing completely and take full damage. You might also miss it by a small margin and take reduced damage, but not as good as a full block. If you get it right, however, you'll parry them, break the attack and leave them wide open. If you immediately follow up with a light attack while they're staggered, you'll perform a riposte, which is a guaranteed critical hit. See here for more details. This is hard to master, so you may well choose to stick to dodging and blocking.

For general build advice, I have been using this as a base. It might not be the "objectively" best as it claims, but for a newbie, it has been serving me well.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Oh boy, here we go. I do love me some Dark Souls threads.

I was in the same boat as you a few years ago. While I did manage to crawl and claw my way past the Second Bell, I got stuck on Sen's Fortress, and by that point, I was so sick of the game that I just gave up. No one wanted to help me and all I got was ridiculed and mocking, "That's part of the game" comments. It wasn't until Dark Souls II came out, and the mechanics of the game were better explained to me, that I finally went back and stomped Dark Souls into the ground.


So, I see you don't care about spoilers and whatnot. Good. I won't worry about them then. I'll just give you the basics that I know.

If you really want to break the game (and don't care about PVP), make a magic build. Seriously. Magic will crush pretty much everything in the game easily. And I mean magic, not miracles.

But, if you're going more for hand to hand combat, then as long as you understand the basics, you should be fine. There are two types of weapons, dex and strength, and depending on what you to play as, you pour points into one of those two, along with spacing points out into other areas. Dex builds are usually faster but don't hit as hard, while strength ones hit harder by are slower. The trade off is that strength characters can take hits better than dex ones.

Poise is important if you plan to trade blows with enemies. Poise makes it so you don't stagger when you get hit by an attack, which means you're attack won't get interrupted if someone smacks you in the middle of it. Usually, the heavier the armor, the better the poise. Keep in mind though that you also need to have enough equipment load to carry your armor and gear, otherwise you're fat rolling, which is basically a death sentence.

You are worried about putting all resources into a weapon, only to find a better one down the road, yes? That's going to happen to you, unless you refuse to give up that long sword you started with. However, after you hit Anor Londo and can talk to the Giant, he sells resources. Now SLABS are still hard to come by--especially different color ones--so I suggest not using one of those until you have found a weapon that you REALLY like. But other stuff you can either buy or farm once you get far enough in the game, so don't let that freak you out.

Oh, and get a bow. Seriously, a lot of problems in that game can be fixed if you just use a bow to pick enemies off.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[Xprimentyl]

1) 5) Master your basics.

You've got your normal attack and you have your strong attack. Assuming a controller for simplicity's sake, if you flick the analog stick forward at the same time you do a regular attack, you'll do a kick instead. This does little to no damage, but on human sized enemies it will knock them back, momentarily break their guard and leave them open to attack. Doing the same thing with a strong attack will allow you to perform a leaping attack, which quickly closes the distance and deals noticeably more damage.

If you're using an offhanded (the character is apparently right handed, so left hand) weapon or shield, then the equivalent of the strong attack for it has you flick your shield out. This is a bit of a gamble, but it's a high reward one if you can master the timing against humanoid enemies. Worst case scenario is that you misjudge the timing completely and take full damage. You might also miss it by a small margin and take reduced damage, but not as good as a full block. If you get it right, however, you'll parry them, break the attack and leave them wide open. If you immediately follow up with a light attack while they're staggered, you'll perform a riposte, which is a guaranteed critical hit. See here for more details. This is hard to master, so you may well choose to stick to dodging and blocking.

^This. I understand that much of Dark Souls is implicit; I don't mind uncovering or assuming the narrative in a rich and engrossing world, but they are shit for telling you HOW to fight which is unfortunate as the control scheme, while not the worst, is far from conventional and intuitive:

- On the narrow pathways of the Undead Burg, I found myself rapidly backing out of the menus with "B" only to bunny hop backwards off a ledge ..."YOU DIED"...

- Trying to lock on to an enemy slightly off screen by clicking in the right thumbstick only to have the camera AND my movement direction revert to "forward" making me waltz off yet another ledge ..."YOU DIED"...

- Don't get me STARTED on aiming the bow! Switch the right hand weapon to the bow, ready the bow with right bumper, bring up crosshairs with left bumper, right bumper to draw the arrow, release to mis target, get stuck in crosshairs view (forgetting to "unclick" left bumper, hallow lunges in for the kill during my awkward moment ..."YOU DIED"...

Yes, thank you, Dark Souls, but as many times as I have indeed "DIED," you'd think by now I'd recognize my punctured, lacerated, crumpled, smashed, burned or otherwise generally lifeless body without your constant reminder!

But thanks for the other tips as well; I'm getting along a little better already!

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

If you want, I can give you a brief list of some great early-game items to pick up before you kill the Bell Gargoyles in Undead Parish. I'll spoiler it if you're not interested.

But a quick tip before I start: if you don't meet the strength requirements for a weapon, wielding it with two hands will reduce the requirement by a fair amount.

Spoiler

Demon's Great Hammer
I'm just listing this for fun, mostly. You need 46 strength to wield it effectively (unless you two-hand it, then it's 31 strength) but if you can kill the Asylum Demon the very first time you encounter it (I recommend starting with the Black Firebomb gift), he drops this late-game weapon.

Zweihander
I'd argue that this is one of the best weapons in the game. With a Chaos or a Lightning infusion, it has really high base damage, relatively modest requirements (24 Str, 10 Dex), and is the lightest of the "great" class of weapons (Ultra Greatswords, Greataxes, Great Hammers, etc.) at only 10 pounds. This leaves you free to invest your points in survivability stats while still doing respectable damage.

You can find it in the graveyard near Firelink Shrine. It's near the back of the area, next to a large skeleton. These guys are fairly high-level enemies, so running past them on a suicide run is your best bet.

Fire Keeper Soul
This one is a bit tricky, but it nets you an early bonus to your Estus healing. Again, a suicide run is your best bet here.

From the Firelink Shrine bonfire, run down the stairs, past the Fire Keeper, and down another set of stairs until you reach an elevator, then take it down into the New Londo Ruins. Make your way to the bridge and cross it. Ignore the ghosts (you can't hurt them yet), turn right, and go around the wall that you see. On the other side, turn towards the entrance (where you entered the area; you should be able to see the structure that the elevator is in) and you should see a structure in the lake with a narrow bridge leading towards it. The Fire Keeper Soul is there, but watch out for the additional ghosts that spawn on the bridge. Once you have it, give it to the Fire Keeper in Firelink to upgrade your flask.

Uchigatana
You can get this by killing the Undead Merchant in the Undead Settlement. It's a nifty little katana with good Dex scaling...though it is a bit fragile. The Merchant also drops the Residence Key when you kill him, but you still want to make sure you buy the Repair Kit and the Bottomless Box, as well as whatever equipment, ammo, and consumables you want (the Heater Shield is nice for the early game) before killing him.

From the Undead Settlement bonfire, go right past the hollows and make your way to the area with two spear and shield wielding Hollow Soldiers. Deal with them, then look for a set of stairs leading down. The Merchant is through the door on your left. Watch out for the hollow who will break out from behind the bookcase on your right.

Havel's Ring
This ring is pretty much mandatory for any heavy armor build. It increases your carry weight by 50%, making it easier to equip heavy armor and weapons without losing too much mobility.

If you start with the Master Key (you should almost always start with it), you can open the door in the tower just before reaching the Taurus Demon. At the bottom, you find an extremely powerful NPC wearing heavy armor and carrying a gigantic club. His attacks can pretty much one-shot you in the early game, but he is slow and predictable. It's really, really tricky, but killing him gets you the amazing Havel's Ring much earlier than normal.

Ring of Favor and Protection
Saelune said that you should leave Lautrec of Carim alone when you find him. This ring is why I recommend you kill him. He's a tricky fight, but as long as you deal with him before you ring the second Bell of Awakening, he drops this incredibly nifty ring long before you would be able to get it otherwise. It gives a bonus to Health and Stamina, and a 20% bonus to carry weight...with the caveat that it is destroyed if you ever remove it once equipped. But this ring is so, so good, you won't need to remove it.

Again, Lautrec is a tricky fight, but not as tricky as Havel. It's doable with some skill and patience, but the reward is worth it.

Balder Shield
This shield has 100% physical damage reduction and the highest stability of all medium shields, but...you gotta farm for this one if you want it. It drops from the Balder Knights in Undead Parish; these are the armored skeleton dudes, and only the ones actually carrying the big shield will drop it.

Dragon Crest Shield
This item also requires the Master Key in order to get early, but the Dragon Crest Shield is an excellent medium shield that you don't have to farm for, unlike the Balder Shield. It combines high stability with 100% physical damage reduction and very high fire damage reduction.

Take the elevator down to New Londo Ruins, but instead of going across the bridge, go around to the right of the building and look for a door. Open it with your Master Key, and you'll find yourself in the Valley of Drakes. Turn right, make your way down the cliff face, and you'll see a giant, sleeping undead dragon with a few items in front of it. One is the Astora Straight Sword (which is really meh, I wouldn't recommend it), and the other is the shield. Moving close enough to pick up the items will wake the dragon.

If you want, you can stock up on Firebombs (the dragon is weak to fire) and kill it before claiming your items, but it takes a lot of bombs and some artful dodging of its poison breath attack.

Claymore
This item is found on the far end of the bridge that the Helkite Dragon is found on. Once you run past it and move into the area where the Sunlight Altar is on the right of the bonfire, the Dragon flies away and you can claim your goodies.

There are a few other items you can get right out of the Undead Asylum, but it requires some skill and a run into the Catacombs, which is a tricky area even for leveled and geared characters, much less a fresh character. The Gravelord Sword and the Great Scythe are very powerful weapons, but are very tricky to run to, so I wouldn't recommend going for them unless you're feeling daring.

EDIT: Also, get on the wiki and look up Snuggly the Crow. You'll thank me later.

 

[Xprimentyl]

If you want, I can give you a brief list of some great early-game items to pick up before you kill the Bell Gargoyles in Undead Parish. I'll spoiler it if you're not interested.

But a quick tip before I start: if you don't meet the strength requirements for a weapon, wielding it with two hands will reduce the requirement by a fair amount.

Spoiler

Demon's Great Hammer
I'm just listing this for fun, mostly. You need 46 strength to wield it effectively (unless you two-hand it, then it's 31 strength) but if you can kill the Asylum Demon the very first time you encounter it (I recommend starting with the Black Firebomb gift), he drops this late-game weapon.

Zweihander
I'd argue that this is one of the best weapons in the game. With a Chaos or a Lightning infusion, it has really high base damage, relatively modest requirements (24 Str, 10 Dex), and is the lightest of the "great" class of weapons (Ultra Greatswords, Greataxes, Great Hammers, etc.) at only 10 pounds. This leaves you free to invest your points in survivability stats while still doing respectable damage.

You can find it in the graveyard near Firelink Shrine. It's near the back of the area, next to a large skeleton. These guys are fairly high-level enemies, so running past them on a suicide run is your best bet.

Fire Keeper Soul
This one is a bit tricky, but it nets you an early bonus to your Estus healing. Again, a suicide run is your best bet here.

From the Firelink Shrine bonfire, run down the stairs, past the Fire Keeper, and down another set of stairs until you reach an elevator, then take it down into the New Londo Ruins. Make your way to the bridge and cross it. Ignore the ghosts (you can't hurt them yet), turn right, and go around the wall that you see. On the other side, turn towards the entrance (where you entered the area; you should be able to see the structure that the elevator is in) and you should see a structure in the lake with a narrow bridge leading towards it. The Fire Keeper Soul is there, but watch out for the additional ghosts that spawn on the bridge. Once you have it, give it to the Fire Keeper in Firelink to upgrade your flask.

Uchigatana
You can get this by killing the Undead Merchant in the Undead Settlement. It's a nifty little katana with good Dex scaling...though it is a bit fragile. The Merchant also drops the Residence Key when you kill him, but you still want to make sure you buy the Repair Kit and the Bottomless Box, as well as whatever equipment, ammo, and consumables you want (the Heater Shield is nice for the early game) before killing him.

From the Undead Settlement bonfire, go right past the hollows and make your way to the area with two spear and shield wielding Hollow Soldiers. Deal with them, then look for a set of stairs leading down. The Merchant is through the door on your left. Watch out for the hollow who will break out from behind the bookcase on your right.

Havel's Ring
This ring is pretty much mandatory for any heavy armor build. It increases your carry weight by 50%, making it easier to equip heavy armor and weapons without losing too much mobility.

If you start with the Master Key (you should almost always start with it), you can open the door in the tower just before reaching the Taurus Demon. At the bottom, you find an extremely powerful NPC wearing heavy armor and carrying a gigantic club. His attacks can pretty much one-shot you in the early game, but he is slow and predictable. It's really, really tricky, but killing him gets you the amazing Havel's Ring much earlier than normal.

Ring of Favor and Protection
Saelune said that you should leave Lautrec of Carim alone when you find him. This ring is why I recommend you kill him. He's a tricky fight, but as long as you deal with him before you ring the second Bell of Awakening, he drops this incredibly nifty ring long before you would be able to get it otherwise. It gives a bonus to Health and Stamina, and a 20% bonus to carry weight...with the caveat that it is destroyed if you ever remove it once equipped. But this ring is so, so good, you won't need to remove it.

Again, Lautrec is a tricky fight, but not as tricky as Havel. It's doable with some skill and patience, but the reward is worth it.

Balder Shield
This shield has 100% physical damage reduction and the highest stability of all medium shields, but...you gotta farm for this one if you want it. It drops from the Balder Knights in Undead Parish; these are the armored skeleton dudes, and only the ones actually carrying the big shield will drop it.

Dragon Crest Shield
This item also requires the Master Key in order to get early, but the Dragon Crest Shield is an excellent medium shield that you don't have to farm for, unlike the Balder Shield. It combines high stability with 100% physical damage reduction and very high fire damage reduction.

Take the elevator down to New Londo Ruins, but instead of going across the bridge, go around to the right of the building and look for a door. Open it with your Master Key, and you'll find yourself in the Valley of Drakes. Turn right, make your way down the cliff face, and you'll see a giant, sleeping undead dragon with a few items in front of it. One is the Astora Straight Sword (which is really meh, I wouldn't recommend it), and the other is the shield. Moving close enough to pick up the items will wake the dragon.

If you want, you can stock up on Firebombs (the dragon is weak to fire) and kill it before claiming your items, but it takes a lot of bombs and some artful dodging of its poison breath attack.

Claymore
This item is found on the far end of the bridge that the Helkite Dragon is found on. Once you run past it and move into the area where the Sunlight Altar is on the right of the bonfire, the Dragon flies away and you can claim your goodies.

There are a few other items you can get right out of the Undead Asylum, but it requires some skill and a run into the Catacombs, which is a tricky area even for leveled and geared characters, much less a fresh character. The Gravelord Sword and the Great Scythe are very powerful weapons, but are very tricky to run to, so I wouldn't recommend going for them unless you're feeling daring.

EDIT: Also, get on the wiki and look up Snuggly the Crow. You'll thank me later.

Nice list, thank you! I've actually heard of most of those, but had no idea where to get them or what they did. I've watched so many playthroughs and so many of them done differently, I can't tell what worked best for whom or what reason; lots of questions. And I knew how to get the Uchigatana, but that merchant was literally my ONLY friend in my dozens upon dozens of replays of the early Undead Burg; I couldn't bring myself to kill my only consistent source of arrows and firebombs. But, now that that place is a cakewalk and since some people*JUMBO PALACE*are frowning upon my use of the Drake sword, I might have to go repay that merchant's repeated kindness with the sweet release of death...

 

[CaitSeith]

1. Talk to Solaire repeatedly until you get the Orange Soapstone.

2. Once you have the Orange Soapstone, being human allows you to summon other players to help you, and friendly NPCs just before the bosses. But also makes you open to invasions from other players.

3. It's better to avoid the battle with that big red drake (Hellkite Dragon) right now. Midway the bridge, go right to find stairs to a room below the bridge. This connects to both a shortcut to the bonfire and a path below the bridge to the other side, into a room with poisonous rats.

4. That Drake Sword will serve you well for a while. But it doesn't scale up with stats and using its special attack damages it.

Some battling tips:

1. Experiment with your weapon, and familiarize yourself with its timing and hit trajectory (sometimes walls won't allow you to swipe, so learn how to make a trusting attack for future tight corridors).

2. Enemies with shields can be a nuisance. Deal with them easily by either:
A. Waiting for their attack and then blocking + counter-attack or parrying + riposte.
B. Provoke them to attack by attacking their shield once, and then doing point A.
C. Break their defense with a heavy weapon or, better yet, a kick.

3. Backstab works with some animals too (not with rats, though).

4. Avoid "fat-rolling" (slow evasion) by keeping your equipment load under 50%. On the long run is better to learn how to evade enemy attacks than to block them all the time (otherwise you'll have to focus yourself on being a tank). Practice evading humanoid enemies' attacks and backstabbing them.

5. Parrying + riposte is OP. Be wary of the enemies that do it too (they put themselves in a different pose with their weapons up in front of them when they go parry-mode).

Some more advanced tips:

A. Once you find a blacksmith (or buy the Weapon and Armor Smithboxs), try to upgrade your equipment. You'll find a blacksmith near the next boss' building who sells the materials needed to upgrade your equipment to +5 (except for special gear like the Drake Sword).

B. Having humanity improves your defenses a little, and your item drops a lot. Having 10 liquid humanities (the big number on the right-top side of the screen) gives you the max item drop benefit.

C. Humanity is scarce, but it can be farmed from rats.

D. You can snipe the Hellkite Dragon from under the bridge until you kill it. It requires lots of patience and arrows though.

 

[Asita]

Ring of Favor and Protection
Saelune said that you should leave Lautrec of Carim alone when you find him. This ring is why I recommend you kill him. He's a tricky fight, but as long as you deal with him before you ring the second Bell of Awakening, he drops this incredibly nifty ring long before you would be able to get it otherwise. It gives a bonus to Health and Stamina, and a 20% bonus to carry weight...with the caveat that it is destroyed if you ever remove it once equipped. But this ring is so, so good, you won't need to remove it.

Again, Lautrec is a tricky fight, but not as tricky as Havel. It's doable with some skill and patience, but the reward is worth it.

I'd actually recommend precisely the opposite. The ring is by necessity a "Never take it off once you put it on" item (it's destroyed if you take it off), and its +20% bonuses have comparatively low value until you pump up the stats they're based upon. Consequentially it's a better late game/new game+ item than an early game item. And getting it before the quest plays out forfeits a few additional bonuses. The least substantial of these are probably access to Anastacia and Lautrec's armor sets. I don't know whether killing him early counts as a sin or not (if so that's a good chunk of souls that you're forfeiting to keep the darkmoon blades off your back), but by taking the quest to completion it certainly doesn't count as a sin, and you get a unique firekeeper soul. If you give this to the keeper at firelink shrine (the one in the cage just below the stairs), then you not only restore the bonfire (thereby eliminating the most significant downside to the quest), but also puts you on the fasttrack to fully kindling the firelink bonfire at absolutely no cost to you. See here for details.

 

[omega 616]

Noob tip, Pick up the long bow, upgrade it till it starts getting pricey (+10 ish) and get poison arrows, lots of poison arrows ... no, more. Then just give enemies the old triple shot and you're golden.

Takes 3 hits to get them poisoned and it means you're only fighting one guy at a time. Oh and it really helps in Anor Londo!

 

[stroopwafel]

My most important tip would be to just enjoy the game at your own leisure. Thinking ''I need to beat this fucker'' only to add it to your nerd cred is the wrong attitude to have. For example, I don't like 'difficult' games and give up at the first sign of trouble but absolutely love the Souls games and Bloodborne(hooked since Demon's Souls). The gameplay and atmosphere has to 'click' with you and when it does you can't put the game down and you'll just get better and better. It's also really fun to look up stuff about the game online since it's such a rich world. I played through the Japanese version of Dark Souls 3 when it came out a few weeks earlier than it's western release and it really brought back some of that magic when it's only a relative few people playing it. Demon's Souls and early days of Dark Souls 1 before the game got so popular were probably best in that regard.

 

[Glongpre]

Dark Souls

The best tip:
If you are like me, then you have to realize that dying and losing souls/humanity is no big deal. Seriously, this game becomes infinitely more stressful and not fun when you worry that you might lose your 15000 souls and 10 humanity.
You need to learn to let go, because it doesn't matter at all.

Next best tip:
Play slow.
Get a 100% physical block shield (easy to come by). Have it up at all times in new areas. Always fight enemies slow. Block, attack ONCE!, continue blocking, until you learn the attack patterns. The spear hollows are very passive, and you can easily walk up and kick (forward+R1) then kill them.

If you get stuck, just consult a wiki. There is no shame in that, because it doesn't matter. Also just google questions, like when you need to farm large titanite shards, or when you want to look up a weapon, etc. This will greatly increase your enjoyment. Like did you know that you can easily kill the taurus demon by climbing the ladder beside the fog gate and plunge attack him until he dies?? Knowledge is power.


I played through the first time with a rather heavy armour, claymore (then man serpent great sword) strength build.
Now that I learned the ins and outs by going slow and observing, and killing my desire to never lose souls/humanity, I have started a fun dual wield build. Currently just two handing my uchigatana, but I have Quelaags Furysword off hand, and I just beat Super Ornstein for his spear (which has too high strength for my dex build, god damnit). Originally wanted a parry sword, spear main hand build which I will transition to at some time, maybe.

Anyway, another good tip:
Don't worry about choosing the wrong weapon. You get a lot of materials for weapon upgrades as you go (and they are easy to farm), except for the final upgrade which is usually a one time per playthrough item. So experiment with a bunch of weapons, find one with a moveset you like, then upgrade it. And you are golden.


Also:
Choose the kind of character you want to make and stick with it. So pick either strength, or dex, or int, or faith to bring up to 40, then put the rest into vitality (endurance up to 40 as well).

But seriously, don't worry about dying and losing souls. It killed my desire to play until I realized that it didn't effect my character at all in the long run. It is much more fun now, I can just attempt to fight shit, and then I laugh when I fail because it is usually for stupid reasons like being greedy with attacks, or getting clipped through walls and stuff. Or trying something risky and getting caught. So much more fun now that I don't care.

Man, I just realized this game is basically meditation in game form. Focusing on the present, learning to acknowledge your weakness, becoming calm and relaxed in the face of adversity. That's why the character sits and meditates in front of the fires. It is all about trying to find your true self, and living in the moment. Learning to let go. Possessions do not matter, only who you are (in this case, your demon slaying skills).

Woah.